e.l.f. X Jkissa Collection Review

     For those of you unfamiliar with Jkissa, I'd like to give a quick run down of her before the review. Jkissa is a cruelty free influencer, meaning that she only promotes brands that don't test on animals. Her largest platforms include Youtube and Instagram where she posts reviews, makeup looks, and funny videos. Jkissa uses her platforms to promote self love and positivity. Fun fact; she's one of the few influencers who normally don't wear foundations.
     Released on March 5, 2019 the e.l.f. X Jkissa Collection includes three products: an eyeshadow palette, eyeliner, and mascara. The eyeshadow palette comes with a double sided brush and includes 7 eyeshadows; 1 duo-chrome, 1 shimmer and 5 mattes. The palette weighs 0.41 oz/ 11.5 g and costs $12. Based on my calculations, I believe the six smaller pan eyeshadows weigh 0.0512 oz/ 1.43 g for $1.5 each, with the exception of the shade "23" which is double the size of the other eyeshadows at 0.1 oz/ 2.86 g for $3. The navy blue eyeliner which costs $5 comes with 0.014 oz/ 0.4 g of product and the brown mascara costs $6 for 0.27 fl oz/ 8 mL of product. Each product can be bought separately, or you can buy the entire collection for $23. E.l.f. is a cruelty free and vegan brand.



     True to her own style, the collection doesn't fall short on delivering a plethora of color. The eyeshadow colors can feel a bit intimidating, but if you cover up the lime green eyeshadow "Alien," the color scheme isn't so scary.
     When I opened my package, the first thing I noticed was that the individual boxes that each product came in, were scratched up. Now I realize, that these scratches came about because there was no stuffing in the package to prevent the products from being tossed about in their box during shipping. Considering that this is my first time buying from e.l.f. online, I'm not impressed. My makeup could've easily broken during transit because of the lack of protection. Another thing I noticed, was that the brush that came with the palette was covered in eyeshadow. None of the eyeshadows were broken or used so I'm not sure how the brush got dirty.


     Prior to purchasing this collection, I've never owned an e.l.f. eyeliner. I'm not sure if this is standard among the brands eyeliners, but I really appreciated that the pencil was retractable and came with a sharpener. The pencil was quite pigmented and creamy when I swatched it on my hand, this did cause me quite a bit of concern; from my experience, a creamy eyeliner usually transfers onto the tight line which causes the color to fade. The mascara threw me for a loop when I first pulled it out of the tube. To me the color looked like more of a ginger color than a brown shade, but I suspected that the color discrepancy might be due to dry down.



     The eyeshadow palette was quite delightful to use. With the exception of "Alien" and "Sway" I found that the other five eyeshadows were quite pigmented. I would recommend wetting your brush when using "Sway." On its own, the eyeshadow applies like a wash of color; for me and the looks I create, I would've preferred something a little more impactful. "Alien" is a bit of an odd shade; this color doesn't apply well on wet surfaces as the color will quickly muddy. Even on a dry lid, when you start blending this eyeshadow, the edges turn into an olive yellow color. The only way to keep the vibrancy of the color is to pack it on a dry surface, in one area, and not to blend it. As a transition shade, this color is ok, but on it's own I don't see myself dipping into this color. Pigmentation aside, the matte eyeshadows do have a bit of kick back to them. I did not have this problem using the shimmer or duo-chrome eyeshadows. The double ended brush has a fluffy side and a smudge side to it. The smudge side is pretty standard and I like that it's pointed, it really helps with precision. The fluffy side on the other hand only really works for blending because the bristles are so soft they can't pick up a lot of product. The palette does include ultramarines in its ingredients; the FDA does not approve of ultramarines on the lips. Additionally, there's dimethicone in the palette, if you have an allergy to silicones, you may want to avoid this product.
     The eyeliner as suspected, transferred non stop. For this reason, I could not keep the color vibrant. While it is pigment, that doesn't mean much if the color fades so easily. The formula of this eyeliner is so soft, I actually had the product snap off in the sharpener a few times when I tried to use it. I will say that this eyeliner is good for smudging, it worked well as a base for deepening my eyes. I did cross search the ingredients list and found that the formula is similar to e.l.f's current No Budge Retractable Liners. This is not to say that the products perform the same, but they may perform similar. The eyeliner does contain the silicone cyclopentasiloxane, if you have an allergy to silicones, you may want to avoid this product.
     Despite my concerns with the color of the mascara, the product does apply as a true brown shade. Unfortunately this does not hold true for flash photography. I took a few pictures using the palette in this collection and the mascara sticks out from my natural eyelash color. As long as you're not taking pictures of eye makeup, this product should work fine. Furthermore, the mascara does little to lengthen my eyelashes and hold a curl. If you have sensitive eyes, you may want to avoid this product; the ingredients include potassium hydroxide and tocopheryl acetate which can be irritating.

     I love Jkissa and e.l.f. which is why I purchased this collection, to support my faves for a lack of better terms. I cannot recommend the eyeliner or mascara based on my experience. The eyeshadow palette on the other hand works just fine. For the price, it's hard to be mad at the products, but overall I was hoping that the products would perform a little better than they did.

E.L.F. is Now Fully Vegan